Is it just me, or does it seem like there are a lot of buyouts going around lately? From my front-row seat as a job-search counselor, I have learned that many companies use this process to lighten their staffs.
A buyout differs from a layoff on this critical point: In a buyout, the employee fires himself or herself. To help the employee come to this decision, management may offer cash, retraining assistance, continued health care payments or other incentives.
A typical buyout package may include one or two weeks of salary for every year of service to the company, making the offer more attractive to an employee with 25 years of employment there than to one with only five years. The net result, inevitably, is an exodus of the most experienced workers.
If your company uses this tool, second-guessing the logic of the program isn't going to help you. When buyouts are announced, your concern has to shift from caring about the company and its future to planning your own future.
If you are in a buyout situation or think you may be soon, review the following steps for help in structuring your response.
1. Get all the details. Particularly in smaller companies or those without unions, this can be a daunting step. Very few organizations have someone on board who is an expert at this process; consequently, employees often are left in the dark on key details. Don't worry that you're being a pest when you ask for the information you need to make your decision.
2. Clarify the options. Are you facing a classic "stay or go" scenario? Or are there multiple versions of each choice? When you think you have all the information, create a chart to make it easier to compare the choices.
3. Find out the deadline for your decision, including date and time. I've had clients misconstrue the deadline or the method for turning in their information, and they missed the chance to make a choice.
4. Pull together your decision-making team. Maybe this decision will be easy and you'll be the only one needed on the team. But, chances are, you'll want to include your spouse or partner, as well as your financial planner, tax adviser and career counselor.
5. Review your career goals. There's nothing like a buyout option to turn career exploration into sudden-death overtime. Instead of the leisurely self-discovery process that career counselors favor, buyout candidates are catapulted into a harried review of the past and present in hopes of predicting the future. Don't sweat this, but do what you can to be thorough, including asking friends and advisers what they would envision for you if you left the company.
6. Assess the risks of each choice. This is the part that tears people up. How do you know what the real risk of any decision would be? Start by asking yourself what you're most afraid of with each choice, then what the likelihood of that happening would be, and, finally, what you would do if that happened.
Be sure to check out your assumptions, as they could lead you astray. For example, assuming that you could not get another job without retraining is likely to be a false assumption. As best you can, find out the facts behind these key assumptions before you base a decision on them.
7. Go forward with confidence. Yes, it's a big decision. But even if you make a poor choice, make the best of it and move forward. Don't second-guess yourself after you've decided.
- Amy Lindgren owns Prototype Career Service, a career consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com or at 1071 W. Seventh St., St. Paul, MN 55102.